Cops: Cortland woman sold child sex abuse pics for $10 each, found with 800 grams of marijuana

SYCAMORE – Police found 800 grams of marijuana and a “large grow lab” Friday when they searched the home of a Cortland woman because she had been accused of taking illegal photographs of girls and selling them to a Wisconsin man for $10 each, authorities alleged.

Prosecutors charged Eroica N. Young, 32, of Cortland this week with dissemination of child sexual abuse images, and creating and possessing child sexual abuse images, according to DeKalb County court records. She remained in police custody at the DeKalb County Jail in Sycamore as of Friday evening, the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s office said.

Young also is under investigation by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for allegations of child abuse and neglect, prosecutors said Friday.

Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen ordered Young detained Wednesday at the request of prosecutors. She was represented by the DeKalb County Public Defender’s office.

Young also is facing additional charges that are pending, authorities announced, following a Friday search of her Cortland home. DeKalb County sheriff’s deputies, Cortland police and the DeKalb County Special Operations Team were looking for electronic devices when they found the marijuana, according to a news release.

The search was conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that Young was paid $10 from a Wisconsin man in November to send him illegal sexual photographs of children, court records allege.

Cortland police received a tip on Nov. 11 from a witness who said a Wisconsin man received inappropriate images of children from Young. The man “accidentally forwarded the images” to the witness who turned them over to Cortland police, according to court records.

Young allegedly confessed to police in an interview during the investigation, according to court records.

During Friday’s search, police also found what they described as “a large marijuana grow lab and over eight hundred grams of cannabis,” according to a Friday news release from the sheriff’s office and the Cortland Police Department.

The items and plants were found in a detached garage on Young’s property, along with packaging materials used for distribution, police said.

Young was ordered to appear for a status hearing on the charges at 9 a.m. Feb. 13.